Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Monday the club would “do everything possible” to bring Argentine superstar Lionel Messi back in the close season.<\/p>\n

The Paris Saint-Germain forward is set to leave in the summer when his contract expires and new La Liga champions Barcelona are hoping to lure their all-time top goalscorer back, despite strong interest from Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

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Messi has had two lacklustre seasons in Paris after a glorious era at Barcelona where he won four Champions League and 10 La Liga titles, and is still worshipped by the fans there.<\/p>\n

Laporta said he has spoken with Messi to try and rebuild the relationship between them, which was damaged when he left in 2021.<\/p>\n

Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona, but the club could not afford to keep him because of over one billion euros ($1.1 billion) debt.<\/p>\n

“I have spoken to Leo to somehow redirect a situation that occurred, in which I had to put the club ahead of everything, even him, who is the best player in the world,” Laporta told Catalan regional public television station TV3.<\/p>\n

“The truth is that it was a very affectionate conversation, very pleasant, and we have also been sending each other messages lately — I congratulated him on the World Cup.”<\/p>\n

In the early hours of Monday morning after Barcelona won 4-2 at\u00a0Espanyol\u00a0to clinch La Liga, Laporta said on Twitch that “we will do everything possible” to sign Messi.<\/p>\n

“He is a Paris Saint-Germain player and what we will do is improve the team in all areas, we have already worked on that,” said Laporta.<\/p>\n

“I think it would do me a disservice to talk about these questions about Leo, because he belongs to a team like Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to wait until the end of the season until it is over, and then we can talk more calmly about this.”<\/p>\n

AFP reported last week that sources close to negotiations said it was a “done deal” that Messi would move to Saudi Arabia next season.<\/p>\n

However, Laporta said that despite the money on offer in the Middle East — a reported 400 million dollars a year — Barcelona could compete for Messi’s signature.<\/p>\n

“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, Barca is Barca, and it is his home,” added Laporta.<\/p>\n

“We can compete with everyone. History backs us, the feelings are too strong, we have 400 million fans worldwide too.”<\/p>\n

Barcelona need to make over 200 million euros in savings, or net income, to be able to operate without restrictions under La Liga financial fair play rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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